Immune To COVID? New Study Suggests Why

The first of an eventual 30,000 Americans got shots Monday in a large-scale clinical trial of an experimental COVID-19 vaccine.

Volunteers at sites around the country were given a placebo or a real dose of the vaccine being developed by the biotechnology company Moderna, the Associated Press reported.

The trial is to test the safety and effectiveness of the vaccine. Results aren't expected until November or December, the AP also reported.

The Moderna vaccine is one of several being developed and tested. Every month through the fall, the government-funded COVID-19 Prevention Network will begin testing a new vaccine candidate, including one from Oxford University, one from Johnson & Johnson and one from Novavax, according to the AP. Pfizer will also launch its own 30,000-person study this summer.

Speaking at the University of Miami on Monday, Vice President Mike Pence sought to assure Americans that any coronavirus vaccine that makes it to market will be safe, CNN.com reported.

"There’ll be no shortcuts," Pence said. "There’ll be no cutting corners on safety in the development of this vaccine."

He added that the Food and Drug Administration is applying the "highest standards to the development of this medicine."

"As we go through the trials, as we see the results of this and other versions of the vaccine, the American people will see the carefulness with which we are approaching this," Pence said.

More than 4.3 million cases of COVID-19 have been confirmed in the U.S., according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University, and more than 147,000 people have died in the country. Worldwide, 16.3 million people have been infected and over 650,000 have died.

Latest Developments

United States:

-The White House announced President Donald Trump's national security adviser Robert O'Brien has contracted the coronavirus. He is the highest-ranking U.S. official to test positive so far. He has mild symptoms and "has been self-isolating and working from a secure location off site," the White House said. "I haven’t seen him lately," Trump said.

-At least 14 players and coaches of the Miami Marlins baseball team have tested positive for COVID-19, ESPN reported, citing unnamed sources. The Marlins' game against the Baltimore Orioles set for Monday was postponed. "Postponing tonight's home opener was the correct decision to ensure we take a collective pause and try to properly grasp the totality of this situation," Marlins CEO Derek Jeter said in a statement. The Philadelphia Phillies, which played the Marlins over the weekend, also postponed their Monday game against the New York Yankees.

-The chief of the critical care division at Baltimore's Mercy Medical Center who treated patients fighting COVID-19 died of the coronavirus on Saturday, the Baltimore Sun reported. Dr. Joseph Costa was 56 years old. "I get so angry when I see people not wearing masks," David Hart, Costa’s husband of 28 years, told the newspaper. "It makes me want to take a bar of soap and write on my car’s rearview window that 'My husband who saved so many lives died of COVID-19. Wear a mask!'" According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, at least 576 healthcare workers have died from complications caused by COVID-19.

Worldwide:

-Coronavirus cases have roughly doubled worldwide in the last six weeks, World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said Monday. COVID-19 "is easily the most severe" global health emergency ever declared, Tedros said, according to ABC News.

-Brazil’s President Jair Bolsonaro, who tested positive for COVID-19 on July 7, went back to work Monday after a negative follow-up test on Saturday, CNN reported. "I am back to work today. (We) have many problems to solve that others created. They cut jobs in Brazil and now we will have to work to recover them," Bolsonaro told supporters at the entrance of the presidential palace.

-Germany Health Minister Jens Spahn tweeted Monday that travelers returning from high-risk areas will be required to take a coronavirus test. "We have to prevent returning travelers from infecting others unnoticed and thus triggering new chains of infection. That is why I will order a test requirement for those arriving from high-risk areas. This serves to protect all citizens," Spahn said. The tests will begin next week, the Health Ministry tweeted. Germany has seen a recent surge in cases. After seeing about 500 new cases a day, the country recorded 815 and 781 new infections on Friday and Saturday.

For the latest coronavirus information in your county and a full list of important resources to help you make the smartest decisions regarding the disease, check out our dedicated COVID-19 page.